Tag: Sochi Olympics

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2014 Paralympics opens in Sochi today

Team USA enters the Opening Ceremonies of the 2014 Paralympics

Today Sochi saw the opening of the 2014 Paralympics, which will run from March 7-16, 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

The Games will feature 72 medal events in five sports, and will see the debut of snowboarding at the Winter Paralympics.

For news and video of the games, make sure you visit Paralympic.org

I watched much of the London 2012 Summer Paralympics and it’s more inspiring than you can imagine.  These are true athletes sharing in the spirit of competition just like out Olympic athletes.

You can watch Team USA enter the opening ceremony here.

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Glenn Beck says US should have boycotted Sochi Olympics

In light of current events involving Russia and Ukraine, Glenn Beck says, a week after the Olympics have ended, that the US should have boycotted in order to give hope to oppressed people all over the world.

Of course, LGBT activists called for a boycott weeks before the Olympics in regard to anti-gay laws that had recently passed in Russia. That fell on Beck’s deaf ears.

Until today. But then, he’s not upset about LGBT victims in Russia.

Responding to a point by co-host Pat Gray that boycotting the Olympics would mostly just hurt American Olympic athletes, Beck was utterly unmoved.

“Yes, it would hurt our Olympics. Boo hoo,” he stated. “Cry me a river”:

(via Right Wing Watch)

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NBC’s Bob Costas addresses LGBT discrimination in Russia – finally

During NBC’s coverage last night, Bob Costas finally took a moment to comment on the state of human rights in Russia, one the first times during the Sochi Olympics wherein the network has acknowledged the issue on air.

Bob Costas on NBC:

The Sochi games have gone much better than many feared and predicted. So far security has held fast, venues have been praised, athletes and spectators have almost unanimously cited the warmth and hospitality of their hosts. All of which is truly wonderful but should not serve to obscure a larger and more lasting truth.

While in many significant ways, Russian citizens have better lives than Soviet citizens of a generation ago, there’s is still a government which imprisons dissidents, is hostile to gay rights, sponsors and supports a vicious regime in Syria – and that’s just a partial list.

The Sochi games are Vladimir Putin’s games, from their inception to their conclusion, and all points in between. And if they are successful on their own terms, as appears to be the case, then at least in some corners it will help to burnish the image of a regime with which much of the world takes significant issue. No amount of Olympic glory can mask those realities any more than a biathlon gold medal, though hard-earned and deeply satisfying as it is, can put out the fires in Kiev.

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US skier Bode MIller’s emotional interview after winning Bronze in Super-G

At yesterday’s Super-G finals in Sochi, American Bode Miller became the oldest medalist in Olympic alpine history and spoke with NBC’s Christin Cooper after his run.

Cooper received much criticism after her continued questions about Miller’s recently deceased brother caused Miller to become emotional and walk away. After a few steps, he dropped to one knee where his wife Morgan came to his comfort.

NBC issued a statement defending the interview saying, “We understand how some viewers thought the line of questioning went too far, but it was our judgment that his answers were a necessary part of the story.”

You can watch the interview here.

I’m a fan of Bode Miller.  I’ve followed him for years and I was pulling for him to medal at this, his last Olympics.  I don’t think Cooper intended to cause pain here.  I think in the moment she was doing what her producers were probably telling her to do in her ear, and wasn’t quite reading how far this was pushing Bode. 

You can see some of the responses from across the internet below.

A very dramatic slice of the Sochi Olympics.

Bode Miller, however, defended Cooper in his own Twitter account:

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Former Italian MP arrested in Sochi for “gay protest”

Vladimir Luxuria,  who was Italy’s first openly transgender elected official, was allegedly arrested after she held a rainbow-colored banner that said “Gay is OK” in Russian.

Luxuria also tweeted a picture of herself outside the Olympics’ Medal Park holding a rainbow-colored hand fan. The message under the picture said ‘I’m in Sochi! Regards with the colors of the rainbow, in the face of Putin!’

Luxuria apparently was protesting a Russian anti-propaganda law approved last year that many perceive as anti-gay. President Barack Obama and several other world leaders skipped attending the Winter Olympics’ opening ceremony because of the law.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/02/16/218337/italian-media-transgender-ex-government.html#storylink=cpy

Luxuria tweeted this photo of her protest shortly before she was arrested:

(source)

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American skier bringing home more than a medal from Sochi Olympics

https://twitter.com/guskenworthy/status/433317626878885888

American freeskier Gus Kenworthy, already a Silver medalist in the slopestyle competition, is looking to bring home more than just his Olympic medal.

Kenworthy came across this homeless family of five dogs (mother and four puppies) outside the Gorki Media Center in the mountain village.

A dog lover all his life, he’s had the dogs vaccinated, rounded up kennels and is planning to bring them home to the US where he’s already lined up adoptive homes.

He does plan to keep one, although which one has not been determined. How do you choose?

A friend had texted him a picture of the dogs living beneath a security tent outside of the main entrance of the Media Center at the Olympics.

One look and Kenworthy was smitten.

“I’ve been a dog lover my whole life, and to find just the cutest family of strays ever, here at the Olympics, was just a fairytale way to have that go down,” Kenworthy said.

(source)

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Olympics: Norwegian Curling team goes pantless

Last week I posted a round-up of some of the different countries’ Olympic uniforms for the Sochi Games. Included in that was Team Norway, whose “mod” outfits have drawn comments and criticism.

Now it seems, other teams in the curling competition have complained that the Norwegian’s pants are “distracting.”

From OUT: “In addition to distracting competing teams, some have raised questions the legality of the pants and if they violate International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules. A debate has started as to whether or not the pants are part of the “official” uniforms provided by the team’s home country.”

So, in the spirit of cooperation, today the Norwegian Curling team took this picture pantless:

There.

Problem solved.